Emilia Clarke Recalls Feeling 'Deeply Unattractive' After Brain Surgery

Game of Thrones fans' opinion of Daenerys Targaryen has begun to change as the series' final season continues. The most recent episode seriously hinted at the Mother of Dragons going mad after she's grown paranoid of those around her and lost someone very dear to her.

However, even if fans' opinion of Daenerys is shifting, the actress behind the character is incredibly popular among the fan base. Emilia Clarke is beloved by anyone who's seen her personality outside the show. And her relationship with fans intensified greatly after the actress penned a deeply personal essay in The New Yorker in March detailing her battle with two brain aneurysms and the depressive recovery period.

Clarke recently spoke with Stylist about how she viewed herself following two brain aneurysms and brain surgery. “I was so full of drugs from being in the hospital that I had a lot of water retention, and one half of my face was quite swollen," she said.

The effects of her health issues unfortunately led to a serious lack of self-esteem. "I felt so deeply unattractive," Clarke said. "What I can see now is that I could see the pain behind my eyes. And no amount of anything can cover that."

The pain was so great that the award-winning actress refused to look in the mirror, even while applying makeup on her face, which she admitted, "probably made me look a lot worse.”

Luckily, Clarke's outlook on her beauty and makeup routine has changed since that challenging time in her life.

"Beauty is laughter," she said. "It’s being inspired. If you look emaciated and tired and full of self-loathing you do not look beautiful, no matter how perfect your hair and make-up is. We should be celebrating having a giggle a bit more. Laughter is free as well, which is good."

"When you can look at yourself in the eyes and feel OK with what’s looking back at you, then what more do you need?," she added.

We commend Emilia for her openness and eloquent analysis about internalized beauty and moving on from a traumatic experience.